title: Prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis A virus among children and adolescents in Germany.
abstract: Since hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection during childhood is mostly asymptomatic, only seroprevalence studies can provide reliable information on incidence of HAV infection in children. The prevalence of anti-HAV antibodies was determined in sera taken in 2008 to 2010 from 1,645 children aged 0-17 years and in sera taken in 2010-2011 from 400 adult blood donors in Germany. For examination of trend over time, 715 sera collected between 1999 and 2006 from children at the age of 0-17 years within the federal state Thuringia were included. Antibody testing was carried out using the test kits ETI-AB-HAVK PLUS and ETI-HA-IGMK PLUS from DiaSorin. In children, the overall prevalence of antibodies was 10.8 %. After the seroprevalence declined from 8.8 % among the 0-2 year-olds to 2.4 % among the 3-4 year-olds, there was a significant increase to 20.5 % in the group of the 15-17 year-olds. Boys had with 12.7 % a significantly higher seroprevalence of anti-HAV antibodies compared to 8.8 % among girls. In adult blood donors, there was a HAV seroprevalence of 19.3 %. The likelihood of past infection or immunization within the age groups of children from 0 to 12 years differed significantly from that of adults. In conclusion, in Germany, only a small number of HAV infections occur in children, especially up to the age of 12 years. The proportion of susceptible children is greater than the proportion of susceptible adults. Thus, during outbreaks, the rate of infection among children would usually be higher than the rate among adults.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology and Antiviral Therapy, Jena University Clinic, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Hans-Knoell-Straße 2, 07745, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krumbholz
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neubert
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Girschick
authors.forename: H I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Huppertz
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liese
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Streng
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niehues
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sauerbrey
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schroten
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tenenbaum
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wirth
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sauerbrei
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology*; D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies